This is one of the titles I've seen but never listened to before but I'll definitely give it a shot. I've had a pretty good streak trying out new series lately...hopefully this will continue it!

It's about a group of college kids who solve mysteries. Kind of like the Hardy Boys. I guess I like it because it reminds me of my love of mystery stories when I was a kid.

Here are some details about the shows:

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Merriwell originally appeared in a series of magazine stories starting April 18, 1896 ("Frank Merriwell: or, First Days at Fardale") in Tip Top Weekly, continuing through 1912, and later in dime novels and comic books. Patten would confine himself to a hotel room for a week to write an entire story.

The Frank Merriwell comic strip began in 1928, continuing until 1936. Daily strips from 1934 provided illustrations for the 1937 Big Little Book.

The Adventures of Frank Merriwell first ran on NBC radio from March 26 to June 22, 1934 as a 15-minute serial airing three times a week at 5:30pm. Sponsored by Dr. West's Toothpaste, this program starred Donald Briggs in the title role. Harlow Wilcox was the announcer.

After a 12-year gap, the series returned October 5, 1946 as a 30-minute NBC Saturday morning show, continuing until June 4, 1949. Lawson Zerbe starred as Merriwell, Jean Gillespie and Elaine Rostas as Inza Burrage, Harold Studer as Bart Hodge and Patricia Hosley as Elsie Belwood. The announcer was Harlow Wilcox, and the Paul Taubman Orchestra supplied the background music.

I think what makes the OTR programs in general so much fun is that they are very much like the old Storyteller that our ancestors used to listen to on cold winter nights. Way back when there were no mass printed books or people who could read them and so for entertainment they had the Storyteller recount tales of all sorts and OTR does much the same thing.

A few years ago, I was living in an old house, probably built in the 1920s or earlier. The living room was very small and there wasn't a really good place to put the TV, except in front of the (non-working) fireplace. One day, while I was watching TV, it suddenly dawned on me that the fireplace was the perfect spot for the TV, because watching the tube had replaced telling stories around the fire. In our modern culture, we sit mesmerized in front of the screen, much as our ancestors gazed into the flames as they entertained each other with stories and songs.

crich70 wrote:

I think what makes the OTR programs in general so much fun is that they are very much like the old Storyteller that our ancestors used to listen to on cold winter nights. Way back when there were no mass printed books or people who could read them and so for entertainment they had the Storyteller recount tales of all sorts and OTR does much the same thing.

A good point Human and of course the Radio forms a perfect bridge between them because before people sat in front of the tv mesmerized by the stories it can bring to us and after the time of the storyteller next to the fireplace (and before that the open hearth) people would gather round their radio's to learn what was going to happen next to (insert character or show). We are very much creatures of habit and so though some details change the actions themselves remain the same.

human wrote:

A few years ago, I was living in an old house, probably built in the 1920s or earlier. The living room was very small and there wasn't a really good place to put the TV, except in front of the (non-working) fireplace. One day, while I was watching TV, it suddenly dawned on me that the fireplace was the perfect spot for the TV, because watching the tube had replaced telling stories around the fire. In our modern culture, we sit mesmerized in front of the screen, much as our ancestors gazed into the flames as they entertained each other with stories and songs.

crich70 wrote:

I think what makes the OTR programs in general so much fun is that they are very much like the old Storyteller that our ancestors used to listen to on cold winter nights. Way back when there were no mass printed books or people who could read them and so for entertainment they had the Storyteller recount tales of all sorts and OTR does much the same thing.